


Hold On

by InTheWind



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 14:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5589268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTheWind/pseuds/InTheWind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the prompt "Things you said while holding my hand" from lilacmermaid25 on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold On

“I need you to live.”

Jesse held onto Leanne's hand—the only visible part of her that didn't seem to have been bruised or broken in the accident—and whispered fervently to her sleeping form. She'd had to be sedated after spending hours in the hospital waiting room as her entire family succumbed to their injuries one by one. By the time he heard the news and raced to her bedside she'd already been put under, but still Jesse spoke as if she could hear him.

“The doctors keep telling me none of your injuries were life-threatening, but Mama knows better,” he told her. “I've seen people die of a broken heart, Leanne. And maybe you think that's not such a bad thing, but I'm here to tell you you'd be wrong. You've still got things to do in this life; you've still got people who love you. And you've still got your Mama. I'm right here. Please, just stay with me.”

Leanne's face didn't betray the slightest hint of a reaction, but when Jesse felt the unmistakeable pressure of her fingers squeezing his, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. She was still with him. Whatever else happened, she was going to be okay.

*

“You're alive.”

That word took on a different meaning the next time he said it to her, lying flat on an operating table after that big heart of his had finally had enough. He couldn't see Leanne's face through the glare of the surgical lights above him, but he felt her gloved fingers entwined with his and knew that she was listening.

Just a few hours earlier he'd been lying on the floor of the supply room thinking that he could die in there before anyone found him. He'd made his peace with that, mostly, except for one thing. He couldn't leave his best friend. Not now, when his death would only be one more reason for her to give up. Not without trying one more time to convince her that she could choose to be happy.

He heard the plea in her voice as she asked him what he was doing; she didn't want to have this conversation, but he needed her to listen. “If I die,” he told her, “My one wish would be that you live.”

Jesse survived. And for the first time since the accident, he thought maybe Leanne did, too.

*

“It's been one hell of a ride, Daddy. You know I'm actually gonna miss your annoying ass.”

Leanne rolled her eyes. “I'm retiring, Jesse, not dying. You can come visit my annoying ass anytime you want. You're more than welcome to come kiss it, too.”

Everyone else had gone back to work following a brief goodbye party in the cafeteria, leaving Leanne and Jesse alone. He'd taken her hand and pulled her into the hallway where they'd spent so many long nights together, taking a breather before heading back into the chaos of the ER. But there would be no more chaos for her; after years of giving everything she had to saving other people's lives, she had finally decided to live her own.

“I'm proud of you. You know that, right?”

She nodded, still not quite comfortable with articulating her emotions. But she held on to his hand like there was something more she needed to say, so he waited.

“Thank you,” she finally said. “For everything, Jesse. I don't know if I ever would have made it out of that hospital bed all those years ago if it wasn't for you. I sure as hell wouldn't be where I am now. You were the one who made me believe that I could live again, that it was okay for me to live again, and I... I love you for that.”

Jesse brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it gently until she laughed at the cheesy gesture. With nothing left unsaid, they separated and she began walking out of the hospital for the last time.

“Hey, Daddy,” he called after her.

She spun around.

“Have a nice life.”

Leanne laughed. For the first time in a very long while, she fully intended to do just that.


End file.
